23/01/2012 09:57 CEST - Tennis Flash
Record number of retirements in Melbourne
23 January 2012
Mikhail Kukushkin was the latest player to retire from the Australian Open because of injury (he was losing 6-1, 6-1, 1-0 against Andy Murray). The number of matches not completed in this years Open is 9. This equals the highest number of retirements in 1998 and 2003, but the tournament isn't over yet. In the first two rounds the Belgians Darcis and Malisse, the Croat Dodig, the Finn Niemines, the American Roddick, the Kazakh Golubev and the Spaniard Riba had to retire during their match and Beck didn't even start the his. In the third round there were no retirements, and Kukushkin was the ninth retirement of the tournament and the only one so far in the fourth round.
Antonio Burruni
Some Tommy highlights for the Haas addicts out there...
- Ann Liguori's column each week as she covers the world of sports
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"I've got £10m in prize money but I'd pay it all back to win at Wimbledon"
Andy Murray before the Championships
January 20, 1920
Rebound Ace, the controversial court surface of the Australian Open since 1988, is thrown under microscope and criticized as two players, Gabriela Sabatini and Mark Woodforde,suffer ankle injuries that force them to leave the court in wheelchairs in third-round matches.
From "On this day in Tennis History" by Randy Walker
